From last contact to $250,000 seat: What we know so far about missing Titanic submersible

It’s now race against time to find Titan and the five-member crew of the submersible exploring the wreck of the Titanic. According to the US Coast Guard, the sub that went missing on Sunday off the coast of Newfoundland, only had between 70 and 96 hours of emergency oxygen, as at 1am on Tuesday.

What happened?

Titan, made of compact carbon fibre and titanium and weighs over 10,400kg, submerged on Sunday morning. It operates by pinging back a message every 15 minutes ashore to research vessel Polar Prince that it is safe. Titan lost contact approximately 1.45 hours into its dive. The Titan submersible was thought to be approximately 1,450km off the coast of Cape Cod at the time.

What does Titan do?

Prior to Sunday’s incident, Titan has undergone over 50 test dives, according to its owner OceanGate Expeditions. Titan brings divers on an eight-day expedition to see the famous wreck, which sits at the bottom of the Atlantic at around 3,800m or over four times the height of a stacked-up Burj Khalifa.

According to a Reuters report, the expedition, which costs $250,000 per person, starts in St. John's, Newfoundland, before heading out approximately 400 miles into the Atlantic to the wreckage site.

OceanGate Expeditions said Titan is "outfitted with state-of-the-art lighting and sonar navigation systems plus internally and externally mounted 4K video and photographic equipment.”

Aside from taking researchers and divers to the wreck of the Titanic, “Titan is also used for site survey and inspection, research and data collection, film and media production, and deep sea testing of hardware and software.”

What’s the mission?

The Titanic Expedition is about conducting scientific and technological survey of the wreck with a mission to:

— Supplement the work done on previous scientific expeditions to capture data and images for the continued scientific study of the site.

— Document the condition of the wreck with high-definition photographs and video.

— Document the flora and fauna inhabiting the wreck site for comparison with data collected on prior scientific expeditions to better assess changes in the habitat and maritime heritage site.

Expeditions are conducted respectfully and in accordance with UNESCO guidelines for the preservation of underwater world heritage sites

OceanGate Expeditions charges guests $250,000 for a seat aboard Titan. The inaugural dive took place in 2021, according to the company's website. Each expedition lasts eight days, according to OceanGate, and each dive is meant to include a scientific objective, including studying the wreck's decay.

Who are the crew?

The Dubai-based British billionaire is described by a peer as an "explorer at heart" who knows the risks associated with every single expedition. Harding's stepson, Brian Szasz, on Sunday took to Facebook to offer his "thoughts and prayers for my stepfather Hamish Harding as his submarine has gone missing exploring Titanic."

An all-out world explorer, Harding holds the Guinness world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South Poles by an aircraft — 46 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds. Last year, he also took part in the fifth human space flight by Blue Origin — an American aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos.

A day before the start of the expedition, Harding posted: “A weather window has just opened up and we are going to attempt a dive tomorrow. We started steaming from St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada yesterday and are planning to start dive operations around 4am tomorrow morning. Until then we have a lot of preparations and briefings to do. The team on the sub has a couple of legendary explorers, some of which have done over 30 dives to the RMS Titanic since the 1980s including PH Nargeolet. More expedition updates to follow IF the weather holds!

CEO and founder of OceanGate Inc, Rush is trained as a pilot. In an interview with Sky News back in February, Rush said about visiting the Titanic wreck: "What really strikes you is how beautiful it is. It is an amazingly beautiful wreck. You don't normally see that on a shipwreck.”

A former commander who served in the French Navy for 25 years. He has already led several expeditions to the Titanic site and has been involved in numerous scientific and technical expeditions around the world.

The Dawoods belong to one of Pakistan's most prominent families, with interests in agriculture, industries and the health sector. The immediate family of the UK-based Pakistani businessman has issued this statement: "We are very grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request everyone to pray for their safety.”

What’s happening now?

US and Canadian ships and planes have been involved in the rescue efforts, but the remote location and depth make the operation particularly challenging.

US Coast Guard's Rear Admiral John Mauger earlier said it is a challenge to conduct a search in such a remote area. The search has two aspects: surface search in case Titan has returned but lost communications, and an underwater sonar search.

Reports said US Coast Guard has sent two Hercules aircraft to search for the submersible on the surface of the water, and has been joined by a Canadian C-130, and a P8 aircraft equipped with underwater sonar capability. Sonar buoys are also being deployed in the area.

The US Coast Guard also requested additional expertise to rescue the vessel if it was found underwater.

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• Missing Titanic submarine: Prayers, tributes pour in for Dubai expat Hamish Harding

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